U.S. OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

June 13, 2003

Justin Leonard

JUSTIN LEONARD: I'm sure everybody will read this.

Q. My first question is four under, would you ever have believed that you'd be with that score in a U.S. Open and really still in contention, and behind actually? Four under usually leads.

JUSTIN LEONARD: Eight, seven under leading through two days is pretty alarming. It's got to be close to some kind of record. You know, the golf course is pretty soft still, so I'm not that surprised.

Q. Tom Watson has been around a while, and he doesn't remember ever seeing so many red numbers on a leaderboard at this point in a U.S. Open. Is this course just -- does not have the teeth that the USGA does not want it to have?

JUSTIN LEONARD: Yeah, that's exactly right. You know, the rough is not probably as bad as they would like. The greens are still holding. I mean, even this afternoon I was able to stop the ball most places. You know, just for whatever reason the course just won't dry out.

Q. Meeks said he probably wouldn't top the rough off so you're looking at getting another inch or so on it by Sunday. Presumably summer will come and we'll see some firming out there. Do you expect to see more stringent conditions out there?

JUSTIN LEONARD: Yeah, I think unless it rains it's just going to get more difficult as it goes out. Par becomes a better score than it has been the last couple of days.

Q. There was a lot of talk during the days leading up that the way to go out and approach any U.S. Open really is to go out and play conservative golf. Mickelson said he didn't agree with that. He said he felt you go out and attack. What do you feel about a course like this? Today you went out and shot even par. Do you feel you need to attack a little bit more, play less conservatively?

JUSTIN LEONARD: Yeah, unfortunately I didn't hit the ball very well today. Even par is about all I had. Yeah, with the course conditions the way they are, I think you have to attack a little bit. You still have to use some common sense because you can make some big numbers, but it's a matter of -- like any U.S. Open, picking your spots, but I think the way this golf course is playing right now, you have more opportunities to get aggressive.

Q. You said very pointedly yesterday that your mental game is your strength out there. Going into tomorrow, mentally feeling strong?

JUSTIN LEONARD: Yeah. I feel pretty good. Again, I didn't play very well today, so I'd like to -- I'm going to go work on that right now and hopefully come out tomorrow and hit the ball a little bit better. I definitely earned whatever I got today.

Q. What are you going to be working on this afternoon?

JUSTIN LEONARD: Everything. I didn't do much at all very good today.

Q. Do you think that even par for you over the next two days will get the job done?

JUSTIN LEONARD: I don't know. I've got no idea. I've just got to come out and see what the golf course is giving me, see how my game is and go from there.

End of FastScripts....